The Pig Flip – Joshy Benedict, Trans. K.K. Muralidharan

Description

At a secret spot on an abandoned island in rural Kerala, the village men gather at midnight and gamble, playing spot flip – the king of all card games. There we meet Babycha, a gambling addict trying to wean himself off the game after he gets married. We see him building a life with his beloved Paulikutty in the idyll of God’s own country. Until, inevitably, he succumbs to the lure of spot flip yet again and loses everything. Soon, his family is forced to take drastic measures to rein him in…

Brilliantly narrated and illustrated by Joshy Benedict, The Pig Flip – translated from the Malayalam by K.K. Muralidharan – is a surreal and narcotic tale of addiction and comeuppance that will linger hauntingly in the mind long after you’ve read it.